Wanderlust Issue 156 (May 2015)

Wanderlust Issue 156 (May 2015) Big Trips, Little Time ♦ Bangkok to Singapore in two weeks ♦ Iguazú Falls from Brazil, Argentina & Paraguay ♦ Iceland & Canada ♦ Cape Town ♦ Pocket guides: Oman, Barcelona, Scotland

Iceland & Canada

The ultimate twin-country break

T R AV E L M AG A Z I N E www.wanderlust.co.uk May 2015

Iguazú Falls

Brazil, Argentina & Paraguay... in one trip

BIG TRIPS LITTLE TIME ifonr tw!o W ip tr A

Featuring: Morocco, Paris, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Kenya, China and more...

orra through And 4 e g a See p

Bangkok to Singapore by train Explore a prime slice of South-East Asia – in just two weeks!

CAPE TOWN

+

♦ Albania ♦ Macedonia ♦ Kosovo ♦ Oman

City, safari and sharks – one unforgettable long weekend

156_Cover_gbv6.indd 1

1/4/15 12:35:26

singapore fling

You could travel from Bangkok to Singapore by train in two days – but where’s the fun in that? Allow two weeks, for a dalliance with tropical islands, mysterious highlands and colonial charm WORDS Mark Stratton

Water wheels

The spectacular Singapore Flyer is reflected in the waters of Marina Bay

028-041_SE Asia train_SO.indd 28

8/4/15 10:34:25

Malay Peninsula

028-041_SE Asia train_SO.indd 29

8/4/15 10:35:19

Iceland & Canada

CONTINENT

Combine alien Iceland and serene Canada with an extended

048-057_IcelandCanada_SO.indd 48

8/4/15 12:29:25

CROSSING mid-Atlantic stopover in Reykjavík en route to Alberta

Crunching Canada

WORDS SA

048-057_IcelandCanada_SO.indd 49

Hiking through the snow in Jasper National Park’s Tonquin Valley with guide Maria

RAH BAX

TER PHO TOGRAP H

S PAUL B

LOOMFIE

LD

8/4/15 12:30:20

Cape Town

Short break, big view

An aerial perspective of Cape Town reveals Table Mountain in the centre, Devil’s Peak (left) and Lion’s Head and Signal Hill (right).

The Waterfront, Table Bay Harbour and the Green Point stadium are visible in the foreground – the perfect playground for a long weekend

062-071_Cape Town_SO.indd 62

8/4/15 12:04:16

Something for the

Weekend

South Africa for a short break? Convenient flights and no jetlag make it a possibility. Iconic mountains, great white sharks and the Big Five make it a must words Nick Boulos

062-071_Cape Town_SO.indd 63

8/4/15 12:05:28

LEGEND OF THE FALLS

Iguazú Falls is where three countries collide, so if you’ve got a week you can explore Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay in a single trip for a real South American adventure...

WORDS MARTIN SYMINGTON

090-099_Iguazu_SO.indd 90

8/4/15 11:32:48

IguazĂş

Wander-falls

The cascades tumble at the border between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay

090-099_Iguazu_SO.indd 91

8/4/15 11:33:39

FROM THE ROAD

Letters, tips, photos & exploits from you, our endlessly adventurous readers

D

avid Attenborough has a lot to answer for. The Blue Planet, Life in the Freezer, Planet Earth – all unmissable TV that inspired in me a deep curiosity about the polar regions. In the end I could resist no longer. The stunning scenery, the amazing wildlife, the sheer emptiness of this frozen wilderness – I had to see it for myself.

Antarctica rapidly leapfrogged to the top of my bucket list. And that’s how I found myself in seven layers of clothing, leaning into the icy wind on the bow of the Akademik Shokalskiy sailing south on an incredible expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula.

As a solo traveller the adventure was heightened by fear that I may be stuck with people not on my wavelength. But I needn’t have worried: I was with a ship-load of like-minded adventurers, all consumed with visions of untouched snow, towering mountains, cheeky penguins and more...

Anticipation peaked when, on New Year’s Eve 2007, the Shokalskiy slipped her moorings in Ushuaia and headed south.

Our voyage began with three days rolling through the whirligig that is the Drake Passage. Drugged up to the eyeballs with anti-seasickness remedies, we snoozed through lectures as our little ship braved the buffeting elements of the Antarctic Convergence. Keeping lookout from the warm confines of the bridge as incredible wandering albatross and Cape petrels crested the colossal waves kept us busy while we waited for our first icebergs to appear over the horizon; when they did it

102 |

■ Yo u r S t o r y

Through the wardrobe, into Narnia

Reader Jackie Freshfield sailed to Antarctica and found her own magic kingdom was like watching massive apartment blocks cruise by. Simply awesome.

Once through the Convergence we saw our first phalanx of penguins – gentoos, chinstraps and Adélies – standing to attention on the rocks of the South Shetland Islands as we sailed by. The excitement was palpable among crew and passengers alike.

Ours was the first ship to dock at Paulet Island that season: the island teemed with 250,000 pairs of penguins and adorable fluffy chicks. We cruised in dinghies between craggy icebergs, and landed to enjoy three happy hours in blazing sunshine watching these incredibly designed birds as they toddled in ungainly fashion on land but swam like streamlined fish once they hit the water.

The whiteness of the fresh snow was blinding. The smell of pink-krilled penguin poo was nauseating. And the noise was deafening: the ‘crooo crooo’ of the penguins contrasted with the squawking skuas that

Wanderlust May 2015

102-105_From The Road_SO.indd 102

8/4/15 14:10:34

From The Road

Ice magic

Penguin close-ups, whale encounters, seal spotting – Antarctica is an Attenborough doc you can star in

The icebergs of Pleneau? The historic huts of Port Lockroy? Or the bubbling sulphurous pools of Deception Island?

But I do know that on the day when the Shokalskiy turned her bow north, we stood in silence, misty-eyed, as we watched Antarctica’s snow-covered peaks finally disappear over the horizon.

This was the closest I had come to finding my own ‘Narnia’ – a special, secret place where all who go are transformed by the experience. To non-Antarcticans,

this may seem a little over the top. But the lucky few who have had the chance to visit this incredible continent will nod in agreement. Put it on your bucket list. It’s still on mine, and it inspired me to visit Svalbard and South Georgia. I am determined to go back again one day. In the meantime, where next Sir David?

Got a travel tale to tell? Then we want to hear it! Post your stories and memories at: wanderlust.co.uk/mywanderlust

⊳

dive-bombed young chicks in the hope of a tasty snack. This was as brutal as anything found on the plains of the Masai Mara.

Finally, we approached Antarctica itself.

The towering, snow-covered peaks beckoned us in. It was a truly overwhelming sight, made even more glorious by a pod of magnificent humpback whales breaching and diving ahead of us as we neared the White Continent. The next five days were a blur of activity as we got up close to penguins, skuas, leopard seals, whales, icebergs, glaciers and mountains.

Attenborough was right: this is a place where it’s possible to experience up close the splendours and immensities of the natural world at its most dramatic.

None of us had imagined the breathtaking variety of landscapes and icescapes that kept us spellbound for the entire trip – all as fresh as when Scott and Shackleton had explored these shores 100 years previously. I don’t know what to choose as my favourite spot.

The glorious viewpoint at Neko Harbour?

Wanderlust May 2015

102-105_From The Road_SO.indd 103

| 103 8/4/15 14:15:20

*Special offer*

Try five issues of Wanderlust for only

£5

*

+ Receive a FREE £50 travel voucher towards your next trip Visit www.WanderlustVoucher.co.uk for more details

Details online at: www.wanderlustoffer.co.uk/WL156 Call us on: 01753 620426 and quote WL156 * TERMS & CONDITIONS: This offer is not available in conjunction with any other promotion. Offer only available by Direct Debit. To pay by Direct Debit both the billing and postal address must be in the UK. Subscriptions are continuous; after the first payment of £5, a payment of £15.00 will be collected every six months unless cancelled. No minimum term. Please allow up to four weeks for delivery of travel voucher.

Subs 156_gbv1.indd 47

9/4/15 13:16:40